Once upon a time there was a very wise Old Man with a huge white Beard who lived in the clouds and was quite bored, so he decided to create a magical kingdom with all sorts of funny creatures and plants and place them in his new kingdom and let all the funny things learn good and bad things and he did all this in six days… give or take.

Is religion bad for women? That’s the question being asked by a conference held in Newcastle this week [8 November]. The main speaker is Professor Daphne Hampson, author of ‘Theology and Feminism’ who argues that ‘religions have proved the ultimate weapon in keeping woman in her “place”’. Professor Hampson joins Jenni along with Dr Tina Beattie, Reader in Christian Studies at Roehampton University and Farah Khan, journalist and practicing Muslim, to ask if women can find a place for religion in their lives.

Prayer is a vital part of life for nearly half of UK adults, with 20 million saying they pray and one in three adults believing that God is watching over them, according to a report published today (November 11th) by Christian relief and development agency Tearfund. NEW SURVEY: 20 million pray in the UK. The survey, conducted among a representative sample of 2,000 adults, reveals strong belief in the power of prayer to bring about positive change in the world.

Available now from the NSS shop, “Did Christians steal Christmas?”. A stocking filler for only £2.99. Give it to a skeptical friend or relative. Where did Christmas come from? Is it rooted in prophecy or paganism? And why did it take centuries for most Christians to agree on a date for Jesus’s birth? Robert Stovold explores the myths and legends around the December festival that dates back to earliest times, investigating the origins of Christmas trees, the divine child and the virgin birth – and finding some surprising connections.

Further to the story about Dr Evan Harris MP’s stance on abortion, a letter in today’s Observer signed by Harris and others challenges Archbishop Williams’ position: The Archbishop of Canterbury (News and Comment, 21 October) and the Catholic cardinals have raised concerns that there are too many abortions. The best way to minimise unintended pregnancy is not to criminalise or stigmatise abortion, but to ensure that good-quality education, information and contraceptive services are universally available.

We’ve had a mention in Wikipedia, the online encyclopaedia written by volunteers around the world. If you follow the link below and click on the little [1] reference, you’ll be brought back here to my Evolution Day Thought for the Day on 24 November 2006. Evolution Day – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Evolution Day is the anniversary of the first publication of The Origin of Species on November 24, 1859.

Listeners who are, or have been, parents or teachers might have experienced the problem of fair shares, when a child has a sweet or a treat, and the others get wind of it and demand one too. It’s no good trying to sneak a treat to one child, without setting off wails of “O-oh! That’s not fair!” Sometimes it seems that some politicians are having similar problems over “multiculturalism”. One religious group has faith schools, and they all want some.

AS HER husband works to bring about peace between Israeli Jews and Palestinian Muslims, Cherie Blair put both religions in the dock over their unequal treatment of women. With characteristic aplomb, she attacked the continuing inequality of women’s role in world religion and said differences of culture or religion could not be used as a justification for denying equal rights. She denounced the treatment of women on religious grounds as a “distortion” of the true message of faiths such as Islam.

Christmas should be downgraded unless other religious festivals are marked on an even footing, a Government think-tank has said. Channel 4 – News – Think-tank says ‘downgrade Christmas’. The Institute for Public Policy Research makes the same mistake as many others, by assuming that “Christmas” is a religious festival, and that other “cultures” (i.e. religions) should have similar attention paid to their festivals. Oh, give me strength! It might be a good idea to downgrade the whole hoo-ha, but not for religious or “multicultural” reasons.

In an Ipsos MORI poll of 1000 people last month, “to examine faith, belief and superstition”, one of the questions was – Do you ever cross your fingers for good luck? 44 per cent of Christians said yes, compared with 31 per cent of atheists. Ben Schott’s Almanac of Belief -Times Online. Surely not? Tags: Ipsos+MORI+poll, superstition, luck, atheists